HC Deb 20 July 1994 vol 247 cc297-8W
Mr. Home Robertson

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the total areas claimed by arable farmers in the Scottish non-less favoured area for crops and set-aside under the arable area payments scheme in 1994; how those figures relate to the baseline areas declared to the European Commission; what estimate he has made of the overshoot; and if he will make a statement on the scale of penalty that is likely to arise from such an overshoot.

Sir Hector Monro

[holding answer 14 July 1994]: The total areas claimed by arable farmers in the Scottish non-less favoured area under the arable area payments scheme in 1994, and so far recorded, are as follows:

Hectares
Cereals 270,491
Linseed 259
Oilseeds 63,155
Protein Crops 2,042
Set-aside 69,671
less uncompensated set-aside1 2,190
Simplified scheme 19,395
Total 422,823
1 The uncompensated element of the set-aside claim is not counted against the base area.

These figures are provisional and my Department's analysis of the claims is not yet complete. In particular, they do not include details of arable claims in respect of Scottish non-LFA land submitted to the other United Kingdom Agriculture Departments. In addition to the AAPS areas claimed, the EC rules also require that five-year set-aside land and land forming part of a forage area claim but growing cereals, linseed, oilseeds or protein crops—CLOPs—must also be counted against the base area. My Department's provisional estimate of these areas against the base area already submittted to the European Commission is as follows:

Hectares
Total of arable claims (as above) 422,823
Estimate of Scottish non-LFA land submitted to the other United Kingdom Agriculture Departments 2,721
Five-year set-aside (provisional) 8,810
CLOPs in forage 12,471
Total 446,825
BASE AREA 430,467
Overshoot (PROVISIONAL) 16,358
(3.8 PER CENT.)

Because of the measures which the Government obtained in Brussels to reduce the impact of the 1993 overshoot, only 20 per cent. of the penalties due in respect of the 1994 harvest in the Scottish non-LFA will be applied. A 3.8 per cent. overshoot would result in a 0.76 per cent. additional uncompensated set-aside requirement in 1995 and a corresponding reduction in AAPS payment rates this year. Regardless of the overshoot, between the autumn and next spring my Department will be paying over £120 million to Scottish farmers under the arable regime. This is a significant increase on last year's payments.